THE O2 DUBLIN AND THE GRAND CANAL HOTEL

Firstly, reports of our demise are well exaggerated. If you were to believe reports in the media and the web this week the Hayatt Hotel Group have bought the Grand Canal Hotel.
Well fear not my friends. We are and will remain an Irish family owned hotel for a long long time. The property the media are referring to is in fact the Grand Canal Square Hotel which is lying unfinished and vacant just opposite the Grand Canal Theatre.
I attended the Kylie gig last week and while I didn't get quite as excited as a certain Irish TV personality, I was none the less hugely impressed. What a show. While Kylie's musical repertoire hardly rivals Bob Dylan or even Madonna, she is an entertainer.
Taking obvious borrowings from U2's stunning stage productions over the years the gig was much more than about the music. Kylie seems comfortable with the fact that she doesn't have the songs to carry such a large venue but entertains heroically, backed up by dazzling lights and fire works.
The one thing that took me back was that it was full. This is not a reference to Kylie's popularity but rather that even in such recessionary times that people are still going to gigs in such numbers.
I mean look at the poor FAI and to a lesser extent the IRFU. Attendances at the Aviva Stadium have been disappointing to say the least. But the O2 consistently hosts touring artists who sell out.
Almost every show that has visited the docklands venue has had the "no tickets available for this date" come up on a search on Ticketmaster. From X-Factor, the Script, JLS, Katie Perry and of course Justin Bieber.
And going forward things are looking just as rosy for the Live Nation run O2 Dublin. Peter Kay, Westlife, Roger Waters, Glee, and Colin Farrell's new squeeze Rihanna have all still to visit the O2 Dublin.
Of course at this stage I have to plug the success of our O2 Package, which has been busing people over to The O2 for over a year. And it doesn't surprise me. You break down the price. A pre-show meal in Dublin could cost you anything up to €30, god knows how much for the taxi or train, €40 each for the hotel and at least €10 for the breakfast.
At the Grand Canal Hotel we can offer you car park, pre-show meal, return transfer to the gig, night's accommodation and your full Irish the next morning for just €79pps. Throw on another €20 and you can get return rail from anywhere in the country.
Click here to book the O2 Package or check here for what is going on in the O2 over the next year.

Ollie McGrath.